Serbinski Accounting Firms

Okay, so it's months of residence in Canada divided by 12 to get years of eligibility? That makes sense, they seem to ask the specific time periods living in and out of Canada in the OAS application form. Do you know if they count partial months, and if they round down or up to get the number of yea...

This was a great thread. I'm going to have somewhere around 35 years of OAS eligibility. It sounds like it doesn't make sense for me to defer OAS to add extra years of eligibility, unless maybe delaying by a month or two would add another year. So my question is, what determines a "year" o...

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, @MaggieA. It's quite difficult for me to understand the mechanics of this without going through the forms myself, but we're a few years away from actually needing to report Social Security income so it's nice to hear from someone with experience. I am...

I should read the whole link I provided earlier, CRA lists the types of eligible pension income for pension splitting. The 85% of Social Security that is taxable in Canada does seem to be eligible for pension splitting. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/pension-...

Actually, it seems like the 15% deduction on line 25600 is the amount of Social Security that is considered "tax free" in the US. Is the remaining 85% eligible for pension splitting? And a separate but related question, will Social Security be taxed at all in the US, or does the totalizati...

I am a Canadian citizen who spent some time working in the United States. I'm now a Canadian resident and no longer a "US person". My wife an I both have Social Security entitlements, but my entitlement is about twice the size of her's. We're still a few years from collecting Social Securi...

Thank you, @nelsona. That is good to hear. I think I'm realizing now that my understanding of 401k plans is limited. The Canadian Roth election instructions seem to mostly reference IRA accounts. I filed election letters for my Roth IRA and Roth 401k (separate letters), thinking they were essentiall...

Hi all, I was reading an article that seems to suggest a CRA election is required for any 401k that isn't fully funded by a US employer. I was under the impression the election is only required for Roth accounts. Relevant statement: "Election for Tax-Deferral: If a 401k plan was not entirely fu...

That's good to hear. Thank you for the additional information about pension splitting with 401k accounts, we were not aware of that and it will help us with our planning. I think we'll probably try to keep these accounts in place, but if we're forced to close them it's good to know we have another o...

My wife and were US green card holders, but returned to Canada a few years ago. We gave up our green cards when we left. My wife maintained employment with her US employer when she moved back to Canada (Canadian division of the company, so she receives her income on a T4), so we weren't able to tran...

Thanks Nelson, that makes sense. I suppose if the non-resident had cryptocurrency in a US exchange, those gains would be considered US-sourced. Still, it seems wrong for an expatriate with treaty protections on capital gains to need to answer a question about their sale of cryptocurrency. I wonder h...

Canadian citizen/resident and former green card holder here. I filed Form 8854 the year after I gave up my US green card, so the IRS knows I should no longer be taxed in the US on worldwide income. I'm filing Form 1040NR for the first time as an "expatriate". I'm curious, why is there no d...

That's great to hear, thank you very much. One more question regarding the Roth election. I noticed in the link I posted earlier that the instructions provided state the letter should be mailed to CRA in Ottawa. I was told by my accountant that my Roth election was sent by EFILE. Is that correct, or...

That was my initial impression, as well...but after reading the info at: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-5-international-residency/folio-3-cross-border-issues/income-tax-folio-s5-f3-c1-taxation-roth-ira.html I found...

Question in regards to the taxation of Roth accounts in Canada.

Is the one-time Roth election only meant to 'defer' taxes, such that any gains in the account will be taxed on withdrawal? Or is the Roth completely tax-free in Canada as it is in the USA?

TIA!